Disclaimer: I don't own Devil May Cry.
AN: Sorry for the long wait folks. It's that time of year when exams and studying is frequent. But, with the end of the week comes the end of my japanese exams so I'm all free to do some more writing and more reading!
Enjoy!
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jackpotdante: here's your update, took a little longer than anticipated but it should move faster from now on. Thanks for the review!
EricDraven201: Thanks for the review!
anonymous: I'm glad you're enjoying it! Thanks for your review.
DevilRebel: Thank you! Here's the next chapter!
KuteInsanity: Thank you for reading and commenting. I'm glad you're enjoying it. Those three are very much like the three musketeers aren't they? They all work so well personality wise because they all have their little quirks and they all know how to wind each other up. They make for some great writing. I guess you could say that the anime was my inspiration for this peace. I really liked how it flowed and how the characters interacted in it. To be honest I'm not sure when it's set. I was thinking maybe just before DMC4 since I don't want to bother with Nero or mentioning him in the story. I think this would be a story to bridge the games together. In any case I'm glad that Trish wasn't totally OOC. I'm going to try my best to bring her back into the story again so hopefully by that time I'll feel more confident with it. But yes, I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks that Trish and Dante's relationship is more sisterly-brotherly. Actually I think I agree with you totally with you on that level. But yes, Lady and Dante all the way. Hopefully you'll enjoy this chapter just as much!
Karimaru: Thank you for your review! I'm so glad that I got Trish's character well enough that she wasn't totally OOC. But yeah, agree with yah all the way. DantxTrish is a bad pairing really, they just don't seem to be 'compatable' in that way. Anyway enjoy this chapter.
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MISSION 1 – SHADOW SNAKE
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It was that time of day that Lady loved the most. The moment in limbo, between light and dark. The crest of the sun could be seen just disappearing and above it was an array of stars – barely visible in a city blaring with lights.
She moved silently, guns cradled in holsters at her hips and Kalina Ann slung across her back. Most women would barely be able to stand with such a weight on their back. Lady could stand, walk and fight. Then again, her whole life had been focused on the goal of killing demons. She thought of nothing else, well…almost nothing else.
Slipping silently between the gap of two neighbouring buildings she paused in the mouth of the alley, letting the shadows hide her presence. Pressing herself to the wall, she peered around the edge of the building, mismatched eyes scanning the area.
All clear.
Content that there was no one around to see her, Lady slunk forwards, crossing the road and pressing herself against the opposite building. From here she scaled piles of discarded crates and crossed the flat roof of a grocer's. She possessed the balance and grace of a cat and the stubborn streak of a wolf. Once she'd set her eyes on her prey she'd never let it out of her sight.
This demon – if there was a demon – was in serious trouble.
The church lay just ahead, empty and dark as always. It wasn't a big church but it was intricately designed. It had a bell tower that rose to a point, like the end of a spear. Every window was stained with brilliant colours and hanging from the walls were simple yet effective carvings. Lady passed beneath the street lights, watching her shadow elongate with each step she took.
The church sat in a graveyard so small and ancient that most of the gravestones couldn't even be read – their surfaces worn away or covered completely with ivy. Around the graveyard was a tall, black, iron fence whose gate had been sealed with a chain and padlock. Lady swung herself up and over the gate, landing neatly. She brushed the dirt from her gloved hands. No problem.
Then, with one look over her shoulder, she advanced across the gardens, moving closer to the church. She briefly wondered how the stranger had gotten here if the gate had been locked, wondered if he'd been drunk at the time. Alcohol could do strange things to your mind and it wouldn't have been the first time she'd been given a job by a drunk. If that was the case then she was wasting her time here.
Pushing back the doubts, lest she give up and go home, she slipped to the side of the church and sidled across to the window, pressing her face close to the glass. Cupping her hands around her eyes she peered into the gloom.
Nothing.
No light, no movement, not even the sounds of bats around the belfry. Was that normal? Come to think of it, the area certainly was quiet. Even the locals seemed to have disappeared. There was definitely something that wasn't quite right here, but unless the 'something' showed itself, she was wasting her time.
She turned away from the window, sighing miserable. "Now what? Don't tell me I've wasted another night on a useless job." She kicked a stone and it met the church wall with a loud 'clack'.
She felt the air behind her move and she turned, hands poised above her pistols.
Nothing.
"Just my imagination?" She pivoted slowly on her heels, scanning the darkening shadows as if they might try and attack her.
"Don't say you're giving up already." A voice filled the air somewhere behind her, taking Lady completely by surprise. She swung Kalina Ann from her shoulder, sliced the vicious bayonet through the air.
But no shriek of pain filled her ear cavities. Instead, the action was met only with a cackle of laughter. Whatever was out there watching her was highly amused.
"I can smell your fear human." The voice continued. A dark flash caught in the corner of her eye and she turned after it, making an attempt to give chase. Skidding around the corner of the church she swung Kalina Ann ahead of her, preparing to ward off a surprise attack. Again laughter filled the air, echoing again and again as if the source lay in some hidden chamber. Or…in the church.
The door of the church swung open and through the multi-coloured windows Lady could see the gentle flicker of candlelight. Someone or something was inside. Lady wasn't one to keep a demon waiting. Eagerly, the woman stepped inside, boot heels silent against the thick mat that covered the floorboards. Her breathe turned to mist. Her heart rate quickened. Again she felt the change in the air, the way a bird might feel the currents shift beneath its wings. She half-turned, saw another dark flash and suddenly the doors to the church slammed closed.
She span, threw herself backwards and fired. Bullets punched through the door, turning wood to splinters that showered over her unprotected head.
The candles flickered then went out.
"Welcome to my world." The voice continued.
Lady, suddenly thrown into a state of blindness, lay on the floor, covered in wooden shards. She'd landed with a clatter, Kalina Ann pulled to one side so as to protect her back. Now, as she blinked into the darkness she wondered whether maybe she'd pushed her luck just a little too far.
Grunting, she sat up, the sound of a thousand splinters scattering all around her. She loosened the bazooka's strap and let it slide free, then groped for her pistols. One was gone from the holster but the other was still where she had left it, safe and sound.
Okay, don't panic. She mentally calmed herself, knowing that loss of control meant death when dealing with demons. She had mastered her emotions long ago and intended to keep it that way. She stood then, shaking the shards from her hair and lifting Kalina's strap over the toe of her boot. She didn't want to lose it in the dark but she also wanted to keep her hands free for mobility.
"Do you like the darkness, little human?"
She didn't respond.
"The darkness is all I've ever known. I've lived in it for thousands of years, never knowing the warmth of the light, yearning for the touch of the sun."
"A demon doesn't deserve light. Be thankful you've had a long life. Its more than most have had."
"I have waited for this human." She felt something touch her hair and lashed up with an arm. Again, there was nothing.
"Waiting for someone strong enough, worthy enough. With your body as my vessel, I will be free of my prison."
Something brushed past her leg.
Her hand tightened on her remaining pistol.
"With you in my possession, I need not fear the sun."
"What are you? A vampire?" Lady mocked.
Another laugh. "Perhaps. But blood is not sufficient to keep me alive. I need the flesh of tender humans to maintain my existence." He cooed. "But do not worry. I need you in your current state to be of any true use."
"How comforting." Lady snarled. Her eyes were slowly growing used to the gloom, though she could not see what beast spoke or where it lay in wait.
A shadow at the far end of the church flickered, she raised her pistol in a flash and shot. The piercing sound echoed painfully through the old building.
"Careful, you might hit me!"
"That was the idea."
"What price will my death bring you, hunter?"
"Not enough for my liking."
"Come now, my life must be worth more or else you wouldn't be risking yours so easily."
A streak of shadow zipped past and she traced it with her arm, firing twice. This time a bullet penetrated the heart of the shadow, which whipped itself violently around and around, spreading out like the cobweb of some otherworldly spider. Lady pulled back away from it, dragging Kalina Ann with her. But the shadow was too fast. It lashed out at her with a dozen long, black tendrils which snapped and coiled around her limbs, intent on pinning her. The shadow moved like oil, spreading and shifting with such fluid ease that she could fire a thousand times and never hit it – unless it wanted her too. She strained against her bonds, attempting to tear herself free, crying with rage as it resisted.
The tendrils pulled at her then and she lost her footing. Kalina Ann slipped free from the toe of her boot. Suddenly the wall was at her back and the brickwork pressed painfully into her shoulder blades. The black tendrils at her wrists began to expand, coiling about her arms like pythons. The one around her neck widened, crept up towards her face, threaded through her hair. She fought to get free, angled the pistol to the side and fired. The bullet tore through one of the demon's "arms" and momentarily freed her from its hold. The shadowy substance around the freed arm began to wither and drop away and in a desperate attempt to escape she clawed at the substance with her free hand, tearing it from her skin.
"Don't fight it." The demon hissed; sounding angry for the first time since their conversation had begun.
"I wouldn't be alive today if I had given up at the first sign of trouble." Lady growled, ripping madly at the shadow around her other arm.
A dozen more tendrils flew from the heart of the demon's essence, lashed around her torso and recaptured her freed arm. She screamed in rage, kicking her legs in a vain attempt to find a way out. Then, suddenly the shadow seemed to erupt outwards and from the bulbous formation uncurled a pair of massive jaws. Beyond these jaws were a line of eyes, eyes so white that Lady realised instantly that the demon was blind.
Perhaps that could be used to some advantage?
Mustering all her strength, she struggled madly, tugging and shoving with all her might. Her cries of anger echoed through the building and for a long while the demon was happy to let her struggle.
After a few minutes, utterly worn out, Lady let herself go limp in the demon's grasp, head sagging as she felt the shadow loosen its grip. Then she forced herself to raise her head, meet its grotesque face. She smirked, knowing full well that it couldn't see her.
"I feel your strength ebbing, human."
"Don't play games. Just do what you have to do." Lady murmured.
Some of the tendrils came loose, folding themselves into the demon's body to create spines and fins around its long, tapered neck. Its round jaws opened so wide it looked like he could inhale her by accident.
Lady let the tension go, let her body hang almost lifelessly. Her eyes fell from the demon to Kalina Ann that lay only a couple of feet from her. If she could reach it somehow…
The demon relaxed its hold further, assuming its prey was too tired to struggle, and Lady knew that the time for planning was over. It was time for action. Summoning every bit of her strength she lashed forward with one arm, fighting the bond to reach what she so desired.
The demon, not realising what weapon lay by its victim's feet, simply laughed, throwing its head from side to side.
Lady didn't pay the demon any attention. All she could see was Kalina Ann, her freedom. She hooked the strap with her toe, kicked it upwards to her waiting fingers and suddenly she was pulling it towards her, heaving it up. The angle wasn't right; in fact it was way off. She just hoped the explosion would be enough to distract the demon until she thought of her next move.
It was.
The missile streaked past the demon and smashed, with devastating results, into the wall of the church. Bricks came loose and tumbled to the floor. The demon, thinking it was being flanked, whipped around, its jaws flexing as it attempted to close in on its new prey.
But when its nostrils found no scent of human it returned its gaze to Lady and this time there was no playful tone in its voice. "When you are mine, your suffering will be eternal." Its serpentine head and neck speared towards her, going by its sense of smell alone. Lady, close to exhaustion, dodged by the skin of her teeth and flipped back away from the attack.
Hungry jaws closed in on her again, crashing through the pews and sending debris flying through the air. Lady, hopping backwards as deftly as physically possible, felt a slice of pain across her arm, saw dark fluid spraying into shadow.
She ducked the next attack and threw herself forwards, meeting the ground with a tremendous thud. Then, winded and tired, she crawled across the littered floor, one last idea in mind.
More of the wall gave way, showering the demon as it rose up to attack again. It screamed in anger and shook its grotesque, oily body. Then like a cobra, it struck, crashing through the already battered pews. It swept Lady from the ground and sent her flying.
She tried to right herself midair but failed, hitting the ground so hard that this time she couldn't get up. She opened her eyes and peered through her own blood and sweat. Her breath came in great pants and the dusty air burned violently in her lungs. She choked, fought to breathe, but couldn't even move as the demon towered above her. The tendrils were back, waving around him like snakes in a trance. She watched them half-heartedly, not seeming to realise the threat they possessed. Subconsciously she realised that those tendrils meant the death of her, but watching them dance was somehow soothing.
She lowered her eyes, fighting back the urge to give in. She couldn't do that. If she died here, she'd be a failure. Besides she needed to stay alive long enough to make sure Dante paid his debts. With a pained groan she attempted to pull herself up.
That was when she saw it, half hidden in darkness.
A candle lay amongst the debris, dusty but useable. With a last attempt, she launched herself at it, rolled away from the demon's attack and groped along the floor for a match.
"You still won't give up?" The demon remarked. "I don't know whether it's courage or stupidity. Either way, you grow weak. I may not be able to see you, but I can smell you. You smell of death." It laughed; the monstrous face curling with amusement.
Lady's shaking fingers found what they had been looking for. She struck the match, heard the delightful hiss as it ignited then lit the candle.
The demon screeched and lunged, intent on knocking the flame from her hand.
It succeeded.
The candle was swept from her weakened fingers, settled amongst the debris and much to her delight, set fire to it. Within moments the single light of the candle was turning into a raging inferno. The heat was unbearable and Lady instinctively crawled away from it, taking pleasure in the demon's frantic cries.
Crawling on her belly, Lady sought the one thing that would end this. Her bazooka. She knew where it was and now that the whole place was going up in flames, she could see its surface shimmering brightly. She grasped it, pulled herself up into a sitting position and pulled Kalina Ann into her lap. Then, steadying herself she fired. The kick shuddered through her body.
The demon released its death cry, thrashed wildly, and already weakened from the light and fire all around it burst into a cloud of ash which filled the air with a putrid scent. Lady smiled and closed her eyes, sweat from the battle and the intensity of the flames dripping down the curves of her face. Her body felt battered and bruised and the cut on her arm was beginning to throb.
But, despite her weariness she knew if she stayed here she'd be turned to ash herself. No, she had to escape. Once she was out she could rest, until then she had to keep going. Forgetting her pistols, that were probably buried beneath the rubble anyway, she heaved Kalina Ann behind her, pulling it towards the door.
She was so tired she felt close to collapsing. The only thing that kept her moving was her will to survive. All creatures were made with a survival instinct, but Lady's was stronger than most. She would keep going until she breathed her last breath.
She pushed aside the broken door and used the last of her ebbing strength to lug Kalina Ann after her. A moment later and part of the roof caved in, sending a billow of thick smoke up into the darkness. Anyone looking in the direction of the church would see the glow of the fire and the smoke blotting out the stars.
Coughing to clear her lungs, Lady straightened and glanced back, marvelling in the destruction. This was what life was about. Fighting for your life, feeling the adrenaline pumping through your veins!
The sound of clapping snapped her from her dazed state. She didn't need to turn to see who it was.
"What are you doing here?"
"I missed the party?" Laughter.
"You weren't invited." Lady turned to face him. "Dante, what are you doing here?"
"You just woke up the entire city. I'm surprised you don't have an audience."
"Woke up? It's hardly that late."
He shrugged.
Normally the night time gave Dante a mystical essence. The moonlight would stream across his hair, glint in his brilliant eyes. But now, with the moon nothing but a slice in the sky, he looked shaded. It often surprised her that one so noisy and irritating could move so silently, so cleverly. It irked her that she hadn't realised he had been there until he had announced himself.
"So what did I miss?"
"Living shadow." She replied. This was one thing they could talk about without arguing. Their jobs interlinked, had them teaming up. After all, they had the same goal.
"Living shadow?"
"Don't ask me. That's the only way I could describe it."
"Sounds new to me."
"If you run into one, start a fire." Lady replied. "Darkness is its strength. The light hurts it."
"I'll remember that." He glanced at her from the corner of his eyes. The fire flared in her mismatched eyes, had them reflecting the glow of embers.
"So how much was that demon worth?"
"That one?" Lady sighed, settling Kalina Ann against her hip. "That was a freebie."
"Freebie?"
"That's right. I wasn't intending on killing it. I just wanted to see if it was there."
"So what happened?"
"It didn't give me a choice." She frowned.
"You should get that seen too."
"What?" She looked up at him, followed the line of his finger to the wound on her arm. At the reminder the wound started throbbing again and her fatigue had her swaying slightly on her feet.
"Either way, it's a good sign. The demons are back with a vengeance." The expression on her face was nothing less than excitement.
Dante moved over to her side, lifted Kalina Ann and slung it over one shoulder. "Want some company on the way home?"
"If you're trying to be nice to me so that I forget your debt then you're sadly mistaken."
Dante made a hurt face. "I can't believe you would think that of me."
"Don't play the innocent." She growled, but this time she was teasing. She was too tired to argue meaningfully. "I know your game." She sighed. "Why do you insist on baiting me into an argument? Maybe Trish was right, you do like to argue."
"She didn't say I liked to argue. She said we liked to argue. Anyway, if she's so knowledgeable maybe we should give her solution a go, what do yah think?"
"I don't know what you're talking about." But her face was tinged red.
Anyway, annoying or not, she supposed she'd let him walk her home – just this once.
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to be continued...